Mentoring

What is Mentoring?

Mentoring is a developmental partnership through which one person shares knowledge, skills, information and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else.

Mentoring is a concept that has taken off in recent years. As one-to-one developmental assistance has become more popular, the term mentoring and coaching have come to be used as catch-all descriptors for which there are no universally agreed definitions.

Goals of the IACC Mentoring Program

To create inter-generational links and bonds between established experienced Irish and Australian business professionals ("Mentors") and the emerging Irish Diaspora ("Mentees").

To provide an opportunity for Mentors to transfer their wisdom and experience to Mentees, empowering them to become future business leaders.

To give Mentees the opportunity to be supported in transition to a new location, sector or career level.

To give Mentees access to knowledge from other professions and disciplines.

To support the continuous growth and development of Mentees in their professional careers.

How does the Program work?

The IACC Mentoring Program, supported by the Irish Government's ESP Grants, runs over an 8 month period. Applicants complete an online application form, which will be given to state based selection committees who then match Mentors and Mentees. *Expressions of interest now open for the 2020 Mentoring Program.

Mentee Participation Fees for the 2020 intake have been set at a modest $600 + GST and this includes all elements of the program, including Leadership Event and Networking Event tickets, access to a Mentor, workshops and access to program resources.

Mentees are responsible for maintaining ongoing contact with their Mentor, with organisation of these meetings being the responsibility of the Mentee - this is really important and will be pivotal to your success. The format of the relationship will be determined by the pair and may include e-mail, Skype, phone or face-to-face meetings.

Mentee Application Checklist

Be a current financial (not Associate) Member of the Chamber (if you're not a current Member, click here to join, then log in as a member and you can see the Application Form)

Complete the Application Form to the best of your ability (remember that a prospective Mentor will see your full application and the better it is, the more likely they will accept you as a Mentee)

Think about your goals for being involved in the Program and be ready to articulate your "grand plan" to your prospective Mentor if an introduction is made. The more clearly you can present where you want to get to and why, the better placed they will be to help you go in that direction.

Don't book a six month trek in the Himalayas - you will need to ensure you make the time to actively participate in all aspects of the program, including dedicated Leadership Events and other Chamber events, which facilitate your greater engagement with the network.

Get ready for 2020 being a year when something great happens for your personal and professional development - and most of all, enjoy the experience!

How does the Pairing process work?

First of all, you need to make a formal application to participate in the program. This is an important step which requires you to think about your goals as a participant and clearly articulate them in your application. Participating in the program requires significant commitment from Mentees, who must be financial members, in terms of time management, professionalism and reliability. If your current circumstances make this commitment difficult to give for whatever reason, it is best not to apply until such times as you can actively participate, as you are unlikely to be able to benefit fully from the opportunity, and may prevent someone else who can commit from taking a place in what is a highly competitive program.

After the closing date, all Mentee applications are assessed by an independent committee which includes Chamber team members, board members and previous program participants. Those applications which meet the assessment criteria are referred to prospective mentors. The Mentor will make a decision on whether or not they take on a particular Mentee and this is not within the control of the IACC. As your application will be given (in its entirety) to the prospective Mentor, it is in your interests to take care to make your application as strong as possible in order to increase the likelihood of being accepted by a quality Mentor.

Our aim is to make initial pairings and facilitate introductions upon successful completion of the mobilisation workshop. We tell unsuccessful applicants as soon as possible that they have not made the shortlist but on occasion you may experience a delay in moving from provisional shortlist to being scheduled into a mobilisation workshop and request your patience and understanding during this period. Our volunteers have hundreds of applicants to support at this time and cannot always respond immediately to requests for updates, indeed time taken responding to multiple messages can prevent cases being progressed as intended.

Testimonials

Michelle Dolan

Deputy CFO

Toll Group

The IACC Mentoring Program has provided me the luxury of access to a selection of Australia's most experienced and accomplished Senior/Executive level professionals.

The program instills an openness amongst all the individuals involved. Throughout my three year involvement I've continually being taken aback by the Mentors' willingness to participate. Despite hectic schedules they have made themselves available, taken the time to really listen to my aspirations/issues, provided independent and honest feedback, as well as a few home truths! They have demonstrated humility, shared their own hard earned experience of success and faux pas with the ultimate goal of seeing their Mentee succeed.

This should be one of the priorities for any Irish Australian business professional, one which I value highly and each year the depth of the relationships I form here have become invaluable to me!

Rory Martin

Sustainability Manager - Residential

Frasers Property Australia

I felt that I had a lot to offer my industry but I wasn't quite sure how to take my career and industry interaction to the next level. Through the IACC I was fortunate enough to be paired with some outstanding Mentors who instilled the confidence in me, and challenged me, to reach my potential. I learned how to think strategically and was able to bounce ideas off great sounding boards.

I have had the solid support and guidance of industry experts through the Mentoring Program who have helped me carve my own journey as an individual in Australia and its fair to say that the outcomes may have been quite different were that support not there. The IACC have created a fantastic opportunity for young people in Australia to benefit from the experience of senior industry leaders. I could not recommend the program enough and I encourage every young person to give it a go. Everything you put into it will come back tenfold!